MADISON — Pro-Life Wisconsin is partnering with Movie to Movement to sponsor a showing for the powerful new film, Gimme Shelter, which contains a strong pro-life message.
Gimme Shelter shares the story of a young, homeless woman in a crisis pregnancy situation who finds welcome and safety in a shelter for single mothers.
To the editor:
Many anniversaries are celebrations for happy events. Not so, January 22, 2014 (the 41st anniversary of the legalization of abortion in the U.S.)! Why not? Because as a friend said, “Not even one abortion per week is acceptable. Not one per month. Not one per year. Not one in our lifetime . . . The dignity of the human person begins at the moment of conception, not at birth.”
Irena Sendler’s father said, “If you see a man drowning, you must save him, even if you cannot swim.” The good news is that 87 abortion clinics were closed in 2013 due to people’s prayers and witness. Thank you, if you participated.
To the editor:
Ted Cruz (Republican U.S. senator from Texas) was on the news this morning. So refreshing! He told it like it was — the Democrats and the White House manipulated the government shutdown just as they are responsible that the sequester went into effect. A delay of Obamacare was the only requirement to prevent the shutdown.
On C-SPAN, healthcare.gov experts were asked the question: “Why do I need an ID to sign up for health care on the government website?” The answer in so many words was, “You need an ID for everything.”
Oops, how do you explain the lack of a need for voter ID?
How is legal abortion “women’s healthcare”? There has never been a piece of legislation requiring inspections of abortion clinics. Many abortions are done only because the baby is a girl. I’ve never heard of a government program to address the emotional trauma of having had an abortion.
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| Pope Francis embraces Vinicio Riva, 53, during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican November 6, 2013. (CNS photo/Claudio Peri, EPA) |
There have been many pictures of Pope Francis embracing people. Perhaps the most poignant image I’ve seen was when the Holy Father hugged a severely disfigured man during a general audience at the Vatican on November 6 (that picture is included here).
The man, Vinicio Riva, suffers from neurofibromatosis, a disease which results in painful benign tumors. In a Catholic News Service (CNS) article, Riva said Pope Francis didn’t hesitate at all in embracing him. He said, “I’m not contagious, but (the pope) didn’t know that. But he did it, period: He caressed my whole face and while he was doing it, I felt only love,” he said.
Some people have criticized Pope Francis for not mentioning pro-life issues such as abortion specifically enough in his public speeches. The pope has been very clear that he is committed to the defense of human life at all stages. He has frequently denounced what he calls a “throwaway culture,” which is more concerned about profit and greed than the value of human life.
Rather than using words, I think Pope Francis has been following his namesake, St. Francis, who was purported to say, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Obviously we often do need words to preach the Gospel and to teach the pro-life message, but perhaps we teach best without words by the example of our own lives.
Pope Francis teaches about the value of human life by how he embraces people of all ages and conditions. He especially singles out babies and disabled persons whom he meets, giving them a big hug and often stopping to talk with them. His actions speak much louder than any words.
We can certainly follow his example in our own lives by showing our love and concern for all people we encounter, especially the sick, disabled, elderly, pregnant women, and families in need in our families and communities.
We can provide our volunteer and financial support to organizations that assist those in need and support the pro-life cause, include Catholic Charities, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Catholic Multicultural Center, the Women’s Care Center, Pregnancy Helpline, Care Net Pregnancy Center, Pro-Life Wisconsin, Wisconsin Right to Life, and Vigil for Life.
Many of our ancestors came to the United States to enjoy freedom of religion. They lived in countries where they were not able to worship freely and some may have been persecuted for their beliefs.
For many of the early settlers of our country, freedom of religion didn’t just mean being able to attend the church of their choice, for example, Catholics going to Mass on Sunday at a Catholic church.
It also meant being able to wear religious symbols such as crucifixes in public, praying at public gatherings, talking about one’s faith in public, sending children to Catholic schools, and receiving health care at Catholic hospitals.
Many Catholics started their lives in this country as farmers and workers in factories or other businesses. But eventually many of them became owners of farms and businesses. As owners, they wanted to put their Catholic teaching into action by providing just wages and good benefits to their employees.
The Catholic Church itself became an employer in its institutions. At first, priests and members of religious orders primarily worked for the Church. But increasingly, especially in the 20th Century, more lay people were hired by Church institutions, including schools, colleges, hospitals and other health care facilities, and social service agencies. Not all of those employees were Catholic, but they realized that they were working for the Church and would have to adhere to the Church’s policies and procedures.
At the beginning of December, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a sweeping federal lawsuit against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over its Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic hospitals, alleging that the directives, with their prohibition against direct abortion, resulted in negligent care of a pregnant woman named Tamesha Means.
Ms. Means’ water broke at 18 weeks, leading to infection of the amniotic membranes, followed by spontaneous labor and delivery of her child. The child lived only a few hours.
To the editor:
Do you think our forefathers, who so carefully crafted our Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are happy or horrified at the turn their beloved nation has taken in these past 50 years? Their 13 colonies became One Nation under GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Three branches of government were created: Legislative [elected] by citizens to past just laws, Judicial [appointed] to interpret laws, and Administrative [also elected] to enforce the laws.
To the editor:
In our country, we have over a million babies a year who lose their lives to abortion — that is over 3,000 babies a day.
We believe that abortion in our country, which is the legal killing of unborn babies, would come to an end if this thing happened:
LA CROSSE — The Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe wish to invite all Catholics to make a pilgrimage on the Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.
The pilgrimage will also include a special prayer vigil remembering the victims of abortion at 10:30 a.m. outside the Memorial to the Unborn at the shrine. It will also be coordinating events with the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and concluding with a pro-life prayer vigil at Gunderson Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, where abortions are performed.
MADISON — The so-called “drizzle” that had the appearance of a full-blown rain shower wasn’t enough to keep about three dozen people from coming out to mark the end of the 40 Days for Life vigil in Madison.
40 Days for Life is an annual vigil of prayer, fasting, and peacefully witnessing to end abortion. For the past several years, the vigil has taken place outside the Planned Parenthood clinic on Madison’s east side. This year’s vigil ran from September 25 to November 3.
